The case in which former directors of Capital Management Botswana (CMB) Rapula Okaile and associate Timothy Gordon Marsland are facing 61 criminal charges will resumea on May 14.
Marsland remains not before the court while Okaile and the companies linked to him are expected to respond to the allegations as the case unfolds.
The charges range from money laundering, theft by agent and obtaining by false pretences.
The charges stem from transactions involving funds belonging to the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) which is one of the country’s largest pension funds representing thousands of government employees and retirees.
According to a charge sheet filed before the Regional Magistrate’s Court, the accused allegedly abused their position as fund managers for BPOPF through an investment vehicle known as Botswana Opportunity Partnership (BOP).
Court documents allege that Okaile, acting in his personal capacity and as a director of Capital Management Botswana (Pty) Ltd, together with Marsland who is currently not before the court diverted millions of Pula entrusted to them for investment purposes.
In one of the counts of stealing by agent the accused allegedly stole P4,2 million belonging to BPOPF in 2017.
“The accused persons…being agents and fund managers for Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund through Botswana Opportunity Partnership, stole the sum of Four Million Two Hundred and Fifty Four Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety Five Pula and Twenty-Six Thebe entrusted to them for purposes of investment,” the charge sheet states.
The allegations escalate dramatically in other counts including one involving P50 million which was allegedly stolen from funds entrusted to the accused for investment on October 5, 2016.
Among the money laundering charges, prosecutors say the accused transferred P33 million equivalent to approximately R42.95 million, from a bank account belonging to Capital Management Botswana Fund 1 to another account linked to Manor Squad Services (Pty) Ltd.
In another charge, the court papers allege that the accused misappropriated P124,866,575.09, which formed part of P150 million that BPOPF had entrusted to them for investment in Shereto Investments.
The charge sheet also shows that large portions of the allegedly stolen funds were later moved through a series of transactions intended to disguise their origin.
Among the money laundering charges, prosecutors say the accused transferred P33 million equivalent to approximately R42.95 million, from a bank account belonging to Capital Management Botswana Fund 1 to another account linked to Manor Squad Services (Pty) Ltd.
The charge sheet alleges that the transaction was carried out through a First National Bank of Botswana account and involved an unauthorized beneficiary.
In another count, the accused allegedly transferred P10 million from the same account to another beneficiary account at First National Bank.
The charge sheet also allege that P15 million was moved from Capital Management Botswana Fund 1 accounts in May 2017 to another unauthorized beneficiary.
In yet another transaction cited by investigators, the accused allegedly transferred P6 million from the same account to an account belonging to Capital Management Africa (Pty) Ltd with charge sheet alleging that the funds represented proceeds of crime.
Court documents further allege that P13.5 million was transferred to the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) as payment toward the acquisition of a property in Extension 9, Gaborone.
The Directorate of Public Prosecution argues that the funds used for the property transaction were partly derived from proceeds of crime.“The accused persons knew the same to have been derived…from a confiscation offence of stealing by agent,” the charge sheet alleges.
Another transaction under scrutiny involves the transfer of P20 million to a foreign currency account held at First National Bank.
